Etymologically
Log in

triage

Etymology and origin of the French word triage

History Permalink
Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1343
Ultimate origin
Latin (trītō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French triage
English triage

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /tʁi.jaʒ/[1]

Forms

triage m (plural triages)[1]

Etymology

It is from French trier + -age.[2][3][1] Trier “to sort” (about 1170) is traced by Bloch and Wartburg to Latin trītō (“to grind”), recorded in the 6th century, a derivative of classical terō (“to rub, grind”); they explain the sense by the grinding of grain to separate the unusable parts.[4]

The forestry sense “division of a forest” is explained differently.[2][4] Hatzfeld and Bloch and Wartburg saw it as Old French triege (“crossroads, passage”), altered under the influence of triage “sorting”; that word is very probably from a Latin of Gaul *trebium, from Gaulish *trebo (“part of a village”).[4][2] The FEW, the TLFi and the GLLF reject this and treat it as the same word as triage “sorting”.[2][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The forestry sense is the earliest: in 1343 a document of Lorraine uses it for the part of a communal forest assigned to the lord.[2][7] The sense “action of sorting” is first recorded in 1370 in a charter of Dinant.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Montaigne used it figuratively, chois et triage de ses raisons (1580).[2][8] The word spread to many technical fields: the sorting of spoiled sheets in paper-making (1763), metallurgy (1765), the hand-picking of wool (1845), railways, with gare de triage “marshalling yard” (1894), and wine-making, triage des raisins (1904).[2][7] By metonymy it meant in 1693 a group of people chosen from good society.[7][2] In the slang of the chauffeurs bandits a double-barrelled gun was un repoussant à deux trillages (1800), and in 1829 triage meant “time, turn”.[2] In forestry it came to mean a subdivision of a forest (1583) and the stretch watched by one forest guard.[2][6]

English took triage in the early 18th century for sorting by quality; the sense of sorting the wounded according to the severity of their injuries was adopted from French use during the First World War.[9]

Timeline

  • 1343 – Used for the part of a communal forest assigned to the lord.[2]
  • 1370 – “Action of sorting” appears in a charter of Dinant.[2]
  • 1580 – Montaigne writes of the triage of one's arguments.[2]
  • 1583 – Ragueau uses it for a division of a forest.[2][6]
  • 1693 – Used for a select group of people.[2][7]
  • 1763 – The Encyclopédie uses it in paper-making.[2]
  • 1894 – Gare de triage “marshalling yard” is recorded.[2][7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Sorting, selecting or dividing things into groups; the result of this: le triage du linge, de la houille.[10][11]
  2. (railways) The marshalling of wagons into trains;[10] gare de triage, a marshalling yard.[10][11]
  3. (geology) The natural sorting of sediments.[10]
  4. A place or device where sorting is done.[10]
  5. (forestry) A division of a forest; the stretch watched by one forest guard.[6][11]
  • trier
  • tri
  • trieur
  • Latin trito
  • English triage

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/2, 305a
  6. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  11. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Triage.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/triage. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·